Many students who begin at the community college do so with the intention of transferring to a four-year university once they've completed their core credits. For them, the community college is a stepping stone to their bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree. But when they transfer before earning their associate degree, they unknowingly become one of the students who "failed" to earn their degree according to state measures. For a long time, these students have been counted as stop outs at the community college, even as they go on to earn their higher credentials. If the student stops out of their university, they often end up without a credential, even after all of their hard work and academic excellence.

For the past 9 months, I've been serving as the Reverse Transfer specialist at Jefferson Community and Technical College. My job has been to improve and expand the Reverse Transfer Opportunity (RETRO), which combines college and university credits to award this cohort the associate degrees they've earned. Though JCTC has always been able to process individual reverse degree requests,RETRO is the first Kentucky program to proactively seek this cohort. Since it was formed in 2013 from a partnership between JCTC and UofL, RETRO has been able to award more than 400 students with the degrees and certificates that they have earned.

​Students who have enrolled and been awarded a reverse degree have benefited greatly from this stackable credential.UofL reports only a six percent stop out rate of students who have earned their degree. Alongside national data collected by the Lumina Foundation, this suggests that reverse degree students are more likely to persist to graduation and obtain a bachelor’s degree. Individual students have also reported receiving raises, discounts, and other benefits upon obtaining their reverse degree.​My first focus on RETRO was to make it more inviting to students and advisors by improving on existing materials and creating new ones. After rewriting the e-mail communications, editing the online application form, and producing branded marketing materials, I believe that RETRO is more approachable than it has ever been before. Working with registrars, advisors, and transfer specialists, JCTC has been able to improve communication and cooperation, making RETRO more efficient and less time intensive. And through relationships with schools such as Spalding, NKU, IUS and others, RETRO gets bigger and more effective every year.​Though my year of service will soon come to an end, JCTC is committed to refining and expanding the program every semester. As more students' lives are improved by this opportunity, as more colleges and universities partner together to improve the commonwealth, the successes of Reverse Transfer can only grow. These successes will benefit the students, the colleges, the universities, and the community as a whole.

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The Cradle to Career VISTA Blog consists of posts from members past and present and those that work with them. ​Any opinions expressed on “The Cradle to Career VISTA Blog”, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual commenter and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions, or policies of AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) program or the Corporation for National and Community Service.